


You Can’t Have Everything

by Rogue21



Series: The Redemption Of Jasper [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Earthling references, Jasper Redemption, Jasper thinks Greg is a gem, Minor Earthling spoilers, The crappy redemption arc nobody wanted, post-Steven vs. Amethyst, pre-Bismuth episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 18:32:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7725217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogue21/pseuds/Rogue21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Gems still can’t find Jasper, so Garnet un-bubbles an old friend from the war to go look for her whilst they hunt down corrupt gems that are converging near Beach City.</p><p>Set after Steven vs Amethyst, before Bismuth and completely deters from the Crewniverse plot that occurs in Beta and Earthlings (With some information used in reference as I began writing this before Beta and Earthlings aired).</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can’t Have Everything

**Author's Note:**

> It's the crappy Jasper redemption fic that nobody asked for but I felt like writing.

Beach City was quiet and the temple was too, as Steven packed up his Cheeseburger backpack ready to rescue more corrupt Gems, as well as checking in on Centipeedle, Garnet warped into the house with Peridot.

“Thanks for picking me up Garnet, but you didn’t have to,” she said her grin fading into a nonchalant look.

“No problem Peridot,” Garnet replied coolly as Peridot ran to Steven with her tablet, which wasn’t turned on.

“Steven, my tablet stopped working, is it broken?” she asked handing it to him. Steven tapped the button and saw the little battery symbol appear.

“Oh it’s just ran out of charge,” he replied casually standing up and walking up the steps to his little bedroom.

“Charge?” Peridot asked.

“Yeah charge, do you not charge your tech on Homeworld?” Steven asked curiously. Surely they had to keep their technology working somehow.

“No, Homeworld technology relies on power fuelled by a perpetual motion source, it was first developed for us Peridots, early scanners and other portable technology kept getting burned out so the scientists created gyroscopic perpetual motion systems that could run without the need to refuel or ‘charge’ our technology, we also have Cold Fusion as a back-up,” she explained to him as Steven found the charging cable and plugged the tablet into a socket. Homeworld technology, in her opinion, was vastly superior to Earth but Earth was a rather niche planet with amazing resources and the Camp Pining Hearts TV show.

“Sounds complicated, we just use electricity, the battery will be recharged within a few hours, hey you can come and help hunt for Gems with us,” Steven suggested. Peridot hadn’t done any missions and it would be fun for her to help them.

“She can’t I’ve got a special mission for Peridot, but first I need to get something from the bubble room,” Garnet said before warping away. What did Garnet need from the bubble room, another Gem?

“What’s Garnet got you doing?” Steven asked Peridot as she shuffled her feet on the rug.

“She wants me to find Jasper but I have to ‘go with an old friend’ whoever that is,” Peridot said. Garnet warped back and walked over to Steven, she had in her hands a bubble with a green and red gem inside.

“What Gem is that?” Steven asked with wonder as Garnet un-bubbled the gem and it began to glow.

“You’ll see,” Garnet said as the gem began to form and a fairly tall gem appeared. She was dark green with varying shades of red, and green, in her clothing and hair, but she also had four eyes, one of which was covered by her fringe. Her Gem was a tear drop on her belly and her shirt had a shining star in the center. The Gem opened her eyes and looked at Garnet.

“Garnet, to what do I owe this un-bubbling I thought Rose said she would keep me bubbled for my protection,” the Gem said. She turned to Steven and looked at the half gem with confusion. “Who’s this?” she asked Garnet.

“Three thousand years and you’re still the same old Crystal Gem, this is Rose Quartz’s son Steven Universe, he’s half Gem and half human, Rose sacrificed herself so that he could be born,” Garnet said simply. The Gem looked at Steven and then smiled and extended her hand to him.

“Well hello there Steven Universe, I am Heliotrope but it’s easier just to call me Bloodstone because that’s what I am, and…oh wow you’re a Peridot…nice hair,” Bloodstone said as Steven shook her hand and looked at Peridot with fascination.

“Thanks…I guess,” Peridot said rather confused. She had never seen a Bloodstone gem before, they weren’t that common on Homeworld.

“I need your help to look for a Homeworld Gem by the name of Jasper, she’s been causing problems but we can’t find her, haven’t been able to since the last time Steven fought her and my future vision is having trouble picking up her movements, you were always good at finding Homeworld Gems before…you know,” Garnet informed Bloodstone. She nodded in reply and thought for a moment.

“Let me talk to Sapphire,” she said. Suddenly Garnet unfused, startling Peridot a bit as she split into Ruby and Sapphire.

“I’ve tried using my power unfused but I’m still not getting much information, wait…” Sapphire stopped as she could see something in her power. Ruby looked up at Bloodstone with a sour look.

“Yes, you’ll find Jasper south in a jungle…she’s looking for something…that’s all I can see, I hope it helps,” Sapphire said.

“It does, thank you Sapphire,” Bloodstone said. Sapphire and Ruby then fused back into Garnet.

“Now that you know where to go I want you to take Peridot, she knows Jasper and might know of any weaknesses, if you can…bring her back in her Gem form,” Garnet said. Bloodstone nodded and looked at Peridot.

“Yay,” Peridot said meekly. Would she get another headache from seeing Jasper again, it was exhausting just being on a ship with her.

“Wow, I’ve never seen a Bloodstone before, are you one of the Crystal Gems?” Steven asked in wonder.

“I used to be Homeworld until I joined the rebellion, Rose saved my life from a shattering although I’m one of the lucky Bloodstones, is the warp pad ready?” Bloodstone replied.

“All set for you both, good luck,” Garnet said. Bloodstone and Peridot stepped onto the warp pad and warped out of the house.

 

They landed in a jungle where there were broken ship parts scattered about with vines and moss growing over them.

“Alright Peridot, if you were Jasper where would you go?” Bloodstone asked. Peridot shrugged and just started walking on the first clear path she could find. The walk to find Jasper was slightly quiet although Peridot was rife with questions about Bloodstone.

“So why were you bubbled if you were a Crystal Gem?” she asked Bloodstone as they walked along a broken log across a small stream.

“It’s a long story but back when I lived on Homeworld, us Bloodstones were specially created Gems just like how Pearls are accessories, Rubies are fighting squads and Jaspers are front line soldiers, I too had a military purpose, I was a spy,” Bloodstone explained to Peridot.

“A spy, we don’t have spies on Homeworld, we just have the Onyx Secret Police that report back to the Diamonds.”

“They’re still around then, well Bloodstones were brought out when specific information was gathered, no one knew our purposes as spies because…well no one is supposed to see us, what happens is we gather information report back to the Diamonds and then…” Bloodstone paused for a second.

“What?” Peridot asked with intrigue.

“We get shattered,” Bloodstone replied as Peridot hopped off the log onto the grass.

“They shatter you that’s, that’s…that’s horrible!” Peridot cried. She thought shattering a Gem was very severe cases of disrespect to the Diamonds, she had no idea some Gems were made to be shattered. “Why would they do that, how could they do that?”

“Are Pearls not merely accessories to make the noble Gems look pretty, are Onyx’s not merely tools to keep an eye on the masses…heck even Jasper is probably a Homeworld tool, if she shatters it’s just ‘oh well we have several more growing in the ground as we speak, don’t worry they’re replaceable’ that’s why I was bubbled, I asked Rose to bubble me in the middle of the war. I told her that as long as I’m protected in a bubble then Homeworld can’t shatter and replace me, that’s why I joined the rebels…because I found out about my own true purpose and I didn’t want any part in it,” Bloodstone said. Peridot felt bad for Bloodstone and she wondered what Steven would say, he had said many positive things to her, encouraging her to practice with her newfound powers to be more than a Homeworld Peridot.

“I’m sorry?” Peridot said a little confused, she wasn’t sure why she was apologising.

“Don’t worry about it Peridot, I shouldn’t have thrown all that on you, but you’re Homeworld too, how did you realise that it’s not the utopia the Diamonds would have us believe?”

“Well Yellow Diamond wanted to destroy the Earth with the Cluster, but Steven and I stopped it…with a bubble funnily enough, he bubbled the Cluster and now Earth is safe…and I called Yellow Diamond a clod,” Peridot said. Bloodstone laughed at the idea of Yellow Diamond being called a clod by such a small gem.

“Yeah…she is a clod, come on, Jasper should be around here and…maybe we can convince her to give up on Homeworld too, you know we are so much more than what we’re created to be, Rose showed me that when I told her I wanted to join her side in the war,” Bloodstone said.

“Steven showed me that too, it turns out I do have a power I can move metal with my mind, I always believed that due to lack of resources I was made without powers being an Era Two Gem and all,” Peridot explained.

“Era Two how long ago did your generation of Gems start being produced?”

“Not that long ago, the Gem War cost a lot of money, we won but it was an expensive win.” They continued on through the jungle following a trail of downtrodden grass and broken branches. Bloodstone wondered why they were after Jasper and what they would do if she was caught. Would they poof and bubble her, or would they try and see the good in Jasper like they saw in Peridot?

 

Suddenly there was a roar from the distance and Bloodstone and Peridot began to run. In a clearing they found Jasper trying to hold herself against the heavy foot of a large purple, screeching corrupted gem. It seemed stronger than her and she was struggling to keep its foot from crushing her.

“Jasper, we have to do something! Peridot cried waving her hands around hoping for something in the clearing to be made of metal. Bloodstone’s gem began to glow and she pulled out a black and red bowling ball and a katana blade. She threw the ball and it sped across the ground until it knocked into the foot of the monster and knocked it down. Jasper then rolled away from the monster and proceeded to punch it hoping to try and poof it into its gem, then Bloodstone ran at the monster and slashed it with the katana blade right near the gem. It suddenly stopped screeching and then burst into a purple cloud where its gem lay on the ground. Bloodstone picked it up and examined it. It was an Amethyst gem. She bubbled it as Jasper came to her senses to see Peridot and Bloodstone.

“Take this back to the house, let the Gems know we found a corrupted Amethyst,” she told Peridot handing the bubbled gem to her.

“You should have let it crush me, clearly I cannot be best by a…whatever that thing is,” Jasper said. She seemed melancholy and worn down.

“Corrupted Gem, consequence of the Gem War, you must be the Jasper I was un-bubbled to find,” Bloodstone said.

“Yeah this is Jasper, surprised she’s not hiding the ocean, you can deal with her, I don’t need another headache,” Peridot said following the path back to the warp pad leaving Bloodstone. She looked at Jasper, who said nothing and just sank to the ground.

“You’re not one of the Crystal Gems, who exactly are you?” she asked sitting down on the ground.

“Technically I am a Crystal Gem, I’ve just been bubbled for a long time, I’m Bloodstone, a former Homeworld spy from the White Diamond Authority,” Bloodstone said introducing herself and sheathing her Katana.

“What made you rebel?” Jasper asked curiously.

“I found out that Homeworld shatters Bloodstones after our missions, turns out we only do one mission and then we’re crushed into sand for the next Gem to use, it’s a depressing realisation and I’d rather not be shattered,” she said picking up the bowling ball. Jasper chuckled at her explanation.

“A reason I can respect, not like Rose Quartz’s reason for rebelling, which cost me this planet and cost me Pink Diamond,” Jasper said standing up and turned to Bloodstone.

“To be fair Earth is pretty great, and still looks it after three thousand years being trapped in a bubble, what exactly are you doing on Earth?”

“I was supposed to be checking on the Cluster but nothing has gone right since I landed, Peridot has abandoned me, Lapis punched me into the ocean after we spent months trapped in a terrifying fusion nightmare and wants nothing to do with me, Yellow Diamond has given up on me, I lost Snowflake, I got bested by a corrupted Amethyst Quartz gem and I still haven’t gotten revenge for what happened to My Diamond!” Jasper cried her voice getting angrier. Bloodstone shrugged and picked up a broken branch to examine.

“Tough break Jasper, is that why Steven can’t get rid of you?” Bloodstone said. Jasper raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Who’s Steven?” she asked.

“Steven Universe, the little boy with the Rose Quartz Gem,” she replied. Jasper looked even more confused.

“You mean the weaker version of Rose Quartz,” she said to Bloodstone. Wow, Bloodstone thought, could this Gem be any more oblivious?

“You know he’s not Rose Quartz right, he’s a human-gem hybrid,” Bloodstone said. She got that right away from Steven’s appearance, she had met humans before her last bubbling and she was never going to forget the jerk that was Socrates. Jasper said nothing, confused by what Bloodstone was saying.

“How is that even possible?” Jasper asked. Bloodstone shrugged.

“I don’t know it just is, you’d have to ask Rose if she was alive, which she isn’t, but we’re getting off track, I have to bring you back into the Crystal Gems as per my instructions,” Bloodstone said. Jasper shrugged, she’d given up at this point.

“Whatever just poof me and be done with it, I’d be better off, I’m a failure, a disappointment to Homeworld, even Peridot is doing better than me!” Jasper cried again. Her anger resonated with Bloodstone for a second.

“I know that feeling, but I didn’t punch my anger away like you seem to be doing, I just got myself bubbled away until it was safe to come out, a cowardly act but I was afraid of getting shattered,” Bloodstone said gesturing for Jasper to follow her to the warp pad. “When I found out what the Diamonds were going to do to me I had to run, when I saw that Rose was bubbling Gems I begged for her to bubble me, I figured my problems would go away if I was safe in a pink bubble away from the war, just like how you think your problems will go away if you keep attacking Steven hoping it will make up for the loss of Pink Diamond.”

“What’s your point Bloodstone?” Jasper asked they stepped onto the warp pad.

“My point is, you can’t have everything Jasper, and whatever it is you think you’ll gain from attacking the Crystal Gems, believe me when I say you won’t get what you expect, just like how I gained nothing from being bubbled, all it did was lock me away from a world I should have been defending but my own fear blinded that,” Bloodstone replied as she activated the warp pad.

 

They arrived back in the house where Peridot was reading something on her tablet, the bubbled Gem gone.

“Pearl locked the Gem away before she left to join the others, they’ll be back in a few hours and if we trash the house we have to clean it up,” Peridot said as they stepped off the warp pad. Jasper hadn’t been inside Steven’s house she had only seen it from the beach. It was nothing like she thought it would be, it felt primitive.

“When did you become a Crystal Gem?” Jasper asked Peridot.

“When I called Yellow Diamond a clod…right to her face,” Peridot replied. Jasper smirked and then started laughing.

“You insulted Yellow Diamond and she did nothing, I must respect your boldness Peridot, but I would never insult Pi-…never mind,” she said. Bloodstone was curious and sat down on the sofa beside Peridot.

“Actually she made this face,” Peridot said imitating the expression Yellow Diamond made by pursing her lips together and flaring her nostrils. Bloodstone chuckled at Peridots expression.

“I can see that, White Diamond would make the same face when she got angry, only she was squint really hard at you,” she said squinting all four eyes at Peridot.

“How do you have four eyes…four eyes,” Peridot said laughing, she had heard the insult used on Camp Pining Hearts.

“All the better to see or something, ask White Diamond she’s obsessed with eyes, and speaking of seeing,” Bloodstone went to the window where she could see Beach City. “What’s that down there?”

“Oh that’s Beach City, do you want to see it?” Peridot suggested.

“Sure, I want to see how the humans progressed,” they went to the door and Bloodstone turned to Jasper. “Are you coming?” Jasper looked confused for a moment.

“Me?”

“Yes, we can’t have the Gems finding you here, come on I want to see this Beach City,” Bloodstone said. Jasper shrugged in reply and followed them out of the door.

 

The three of them walked down into Beach City, there were quite a lot of tourists in the town meaning peak season was approaching. Peridot’s first stop was the Doughnut Shop where Sadie and Lars were working.

“Hi Sadie!” Peridot said walking in. She had become acquainted with the locals and enjoyed stopping by for doughnuts.

“Hey Peridot, no Shorty Squad today?” Sadie said cheerfully.

“Gem stuff, oh this is Bloodstone and Jasper, they’re new to the team,” Peridot said introducing them.

“I’m over five thousand years old Peridot, I’m not exactly new, but I must say I am impressed with the leaps humanity has made in three thousand years, is the Greek Empire still around, because the last time I was in Greece I got into an argument with Socrates, I don’t care what Plato says, Socrates was a little bitch,” Bloodstone said as Sadie packed box of doughnuts.

“The last time I was here was in the Bronze Age and that time was dreary and the technology was about as useful as the giant holes in that human’s ears,” Jasper commented pointing to Lars’s plugs, humans in the Bronze Age were incredibly primitive, although this age of humans still needed to convince her.

“Hey I spent six years growing my lobes like this,” Lars retorted, offended by her remark as Peridot paid for the doughnuts. Jasper walked over to the counter, her shadow loomed over Sadie who smiled at her.

“I like your hair,” she said grinning at her.

“What?” Jasper asked confused.

“Your hair it’s…well I like the way it looks, my hair doesn’t do that cool swish like yours,” Sadie explained. A compliment about her hair, somehow that reminded her of Pink Diamond.

“Oh…thank you,” Jasper said bowing her head slightly.

“Thanks Sadie, I’ll tell Steven you said hello,” Peridot said.

“Thanks Peridot, oh you should check out the new music store that just opened, I feel like you would really enjoy the dance music they’ve got there,” Sadie suggested, Peridot grinned at the suggestion and they waved goodbye. Jasper couldn’t understand how Peridot had changed since their last encounter, she liked the humans on Earth and enjoyed organic edible substances, although Jasper enjoyed the doughnuts with the pink sprinkles and the chocolate center, even if she had no organ system to ingest it.

 

They soon arrived at the new music store named Cosmic Records. The whole thing was space themed and of course Greg Universe was inside admiring a Mr Universe poster that the owner had put up, when he saw Peridot enter with Bloodstone and Jasper he waved to them.

“Hi Peridot, no Steven today?” he said.

“Gem business but I’m here with Bloodstone and Jasper, did you know Bloodstone is a Crystal Gem?” Peridot replied. Greg looked up at Bloodstone, the name was familiar to him.

“I don’t ever remember meeting you, but I think Rose dropped your name into several conversations, how come we never met?” Greg asked.

“I was hiding in a bubble, how do you know Steven and Peridot?” Bloodstone said.

“Oh I’m Steven’s father, Rose was my girlfriend way back when, I’m Greg Universe,” Greg said shaking Bloodstone’s hand.

“Well nice to meet you Greg Universe,” Bloodstone said cheerfully. Jasper eyed Greg carefully noting his long hair, the shiny bald head and his stature. To her, he had the makings of a Quartz from the Beta Kindergarten but he was human, which raised even more questions for her. She then looked at the Mr. Universe poster which featured young Greg, and saw he had more hair in that image.

“Are you sure you’re also not a Gem, in Beta we had a few Tiger’s Eye Quartz’s you sort of look like a Tiger’s Eye in that image,” Jasper observed pointing to the picture of Greg. Peridot then burst out laughing.

“Greg’s not a Gem silly, he’s a human, I know this because I pushed him off the barn roof,” she said. Greg then started laughing as did Bloodstone which then caused Jasper to start laughing with them.

“I’m not a Gem Jasper, Pearl proved that much to me, now as for music, Peridot you look like you’d enjoy Electronic so try this CD,” Greg said handing her an electronic dance album, he put the CD into the built in players and gave her headphones. She then began to dance a little to the music.

“It’s like technology decided to make music,” she said. Greg then passed a CD to Bloodstone.

“I think you’d enjoy rock music, it’s the music I make,” he said to her. Intrigued Bloodstone put the CD into the other player and started listening. Greg then looked up at Jasper, she was tall. Were all Quartz Gems tall, with the exception of Amethyst?

“I know just what to suggest for you, it’s Black Metal, you can’t understand them half the time but the melodies will get you,” Greg said handing her a CD with five men in crazed make-up in a snowy background with the band’s name being Obsidian. Jasper put on the headphones and was surprised by the screaming and heavy guitar solos, she was soon nodding her head to the music. This was better than she thought. When the song was over she took off the headphones.

“This music is angry, confusing and makes me want to scream…I like it,” she said.

“I figured you might, I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to musical taste, now I have to get back to work, I’m rich and could probably buy this place but I prefer the car wash, I’ll see you Gems later,” Greg said and walked out of the record store.

 

As soon as Peridot had bought the CD’s for them, they all returned to the house and Peridot ordered Pizza. Kiki was the one to deliver, also asking after Steven, and meeting Jasper and Bloodstone. The three of them then began watching a movie Peridot had found, a Science-Fiction movie called Galactic Wars, Peridot and Bloodstone were sitting on the floor and Jasper was lying on the bed watching intently with her elbows propping her up as she watched the movie.

“Sky Starshooter is stupid if he thinks he can outsmart the King Order by dressing up as one of their soldiers in order to rescue Commander Bella,” Jasper commented as Sky Starshooter and Go-Go infiltrated the King Base.

“I know, but you should see how they escape the base after they find her, they use the garbage shoot that leads into the garbage disposal room that leads out to the loading bay where they take their ship down to the planet Organa-19 where the Resistance is hiding,” Peridot replied.

“Now that’s actually quite smart…when we got to Earth I was supposed to be briefed on my mission before leaving the ship but I escaped through an air duct that led into a cooling vent and then I ran for it, took me three days to find Rose Quartz,” Bloodstone said as Jasper reached down into the pizza box and grabbed a slice.

“After I left with Snowflake after my last fight Ro-…Steven, I lost that Gem after three hours, she was out of control and just…ran…hey Peridot can the corrupted Gems be fixed, Snowflake is still out there and I’ve a lot of other corrupted Gems locked away in the Beta Kindergarten, looks like they won’t make a good army after all,” Jasper said.

“I don’t know if they can be healed it would take a miracle, Steven can heal cracks in a Gemstone or a tear in fabric but he couldn’t heal one of the corrupted gems he released, not fully anyway,” Peridot said. Jasper sighed, a little sad by that knowledge.

“You have a tiny army of corrupted Gems, you must be really strong then to overpower them, well except for that corrupted Amethyst we found,” Bloodstone said.

“Well Amethyst Quartz are created to be stronger than Jasper’s, I guess in human military terms an Amethyst would be a tank soldier whilst Jaspers are front line soldiers,” Jasper explained.

“Well CG Amethyst was left in the ground for too long, something must have prevented her growth which is why she was left in there for five hundred years,” Peridot said.

“So what corrupted the Gems left on Earth when the war was ending?” Bloodstone asked. She didn’t wake up until three hundred years after the war finished but Rose never explained what caused it to end or how they survived.

“My guess…it was something big,” Peridot answered. The sound of the warp pad took their attention and Peridot leapt to her feet. “I better handle this,” she said running down the stairs to greet the Gems. Bloodstone and Jasper glanced at each other.

“This should be good,” Bloodstone said.

“Hello Peridot, did Bloodstone find Jasper?” they heard Pearl ask.

“Oh she found Jasper alright,” Peridot replied.

“What does that mean?” Steven asked.

“What would you say if I told you guys Jasper was upstairs with Bloodstone eating pizza and watching Galactic Wars?” Peridot said. They then heard Amethyst burst out laughing.

“Jasper eating pizza, I’ll believe that when I see it,” she said as they walked into the living area they looked up see Bloodstone sitting on the floor and Jasper staring at him in surprise, and biting into a slice of pizza.

“Well, you don’t see that every day,” Garnet said calmly.

**Author's Note:**

> Had no idea how to end but a calm reaction from Garnet felt appropriate.


End file.
